It has been historically difficult for Mangrove re-vegetation or planting of mangroves in non-native environments or areas where habitats have been destroyed or topography and hydrology has changed. Numerous techniques for planting mangroves have been attempted and described in scientific and popular literature. For example, standard 1.5″ inch PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipes have been used over the years that meet American Society for Testing and Materials standards (ASTM-2241) have been used over the years for planting mangroves.
Various publications and references have discussed the attributes of using PVC pipes. See for example, “A red mangrove replenishment methodology”, Riley, R. W., Jr. In: Webb, F. J. and Cannizzaro, P. J. (eds), Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference on Ecosystems Restoration and Creation, pp. 132-161. 1995. Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, Fla.; “Riley encased methodology: principles and processes of mangrove habitat creation and restoration”, Robert W. Riley, Jr & Chandra Salgado Kent, Mangroves and Salt Marshes 3: 207-213, Kluwer Academic Publishers, December 19991 Web site created on May 19, 1996, URL=mangrove.org. See also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,829,707 to Koffler and 5,263,278 to Valenti, Jr. and U.S. Published Patent Application 2006/0032122 to Chang. However, these PVC pipes and other similar devices have specific deficiencies, which the subject invention remedies or significantly improves.
A deficiency of the prior art is that the structure and configuration limit the rate of plant development and correspondingly the rate of the adaptation process. As the propagule or seedling planted inside the cylindrical encasement device develops and begins the adaptation process, the cross-sectional area of the plant increases and expands exerting force against the interior walls of the fixed diameter pipes and thereby opening the device and affecting an increase in displacement. As the developing tree increases the displacement of the cylindrical encasement device, progressively greater force is required against the interior walls for each incremental increase in displacement.
The force required to affect an incremental increase in the displacement increases geometrically in direct relationship to the displacement of the device; or alternatively stated, the force required to affect each increment increase in displacement increases geometrically with the total displacement of the device. This direct relationship between the increase in force required to affect each incremental increase and the total displacement of the cylindrical encasement device, limits the rate of plant development and the rate of the adaptation process.
Another disadvantage of known devices is the white colored pigmentation in ASTM 2241 PVC material and the resulting high opacity that restricts the ambient light reaching the seedling through the cylindrical encasement device walls. The white pigmentation also tends to restrict those portions of the spectrum that promote photosynthesis and the growth of plants. Additionally, low ambient light level that results from the white pigmentation slows the rate of the plant development process.
Still further shortcomings of known devices include the inability to the remove the device from the environment following completion of the adaptation process or when the tree becoming self-supporting.
Additionally, many of the known devices do not permit modifications of pigmentation, opacity and color. Nor do these devices enable control of the intensity and spectrum of radiation, including visible and ultraviolet light, reaching the propagule or seedling through the body wall of the device.
Thus, for at least these reasons the need exists for solutions to the above problems with the prior art.